Is a redesign of baby strollers overdue?

A baby stroller unmatched in its multitude of functions, but with an equally large price tag.

I decided to take the 23 bus back from the lab this evening. Shortly after we left Temple, I witnessed a young mother struggling to collapse a baby stroller just outside the bus while struggling to balance her 3-4 month old daughter in her other arm. Once on the bus, she needed to lift the stroller up and over a support railing, to remove it from the aisle. I aided the woman with the stroller placement and was immediately struck by the weight and awkwardness of this object, despite the fact that this was a simple stroller (still weighing in at 14 lbs and pictured below) that looks far lighter than the popular, souped-up strollers commonly found today.

A simpler, more budget-friendly stroller that is difficult to collapse and still awkward to handle.

These “souped-up” strollers (~30+ lbs) feature single finger collapse switches and tout ease of breakdown and set-up, complete with a multi-use car seat, bassinet, and stroller seat, as well as all-terrain wheels. However, while this may ease the convenience of set-up and breakdown after a car ride, what about a stroller for more budget-conscious (or budget-constrained) parents? Where is the simple stroller that can be easily broken down for a bus ride and set-up after exiting the bus, that is also light enough to be handled with one hand by the average 5 foot 4 inch new mom who is also holding a 15 pound baby in the other arm… while being affordable?

So here’s a question to all you creative thinkers out there: Is a redesign of the baby stroller for the modern-day budget-minded consumer overdue? If so, how can biomimetics meet this challenge?